...written and compiled by spank.

“We’re trying to get a record contract before June so I don’t have to get a proper job,” says Ian, one quarter of the 4Uno collective along with Adjustable Joe, Lone Smoker, and Karizma. “Got to set yourself goals,” as Adjustable Joe puts it. 4Uno certainly seem to have good direction for a group who’ve been working together for less than a year “since we got the equipment.”

“It took a couple of months just to get it clicking so we could actually work together,” Joe goes on. “In our first few months of stuff, we ended up writing tunes that were fifteen minutes long just ‘cause we had too much input. Now we know that we can just calm it down, give it a few tweaks and get down to the essence of what we want to do. There wasn’t a track we played last night that didn’t get worked over by all of the group. The trip garage thing was born of sounds that are stolen from him,” he says, turning to Lone Smoker, who, appropriately, is quietly rolling and smoking in the corner.

‘The Trip Garage thing’ is the most intriguing aspect of 4Uno’s set. The breakbeat disorientates through a sort of irregular regularity: it has a wobbly groove that harks back to body-popping and electro, but the sounds are strictly class of ’98 stuff, all trip-hop sound textures and big bass noises. For such an unusual and proudly unconventional track, it goes down a storm on the dancefloor. “That’s my baby,” smiles Adjustable Joe. “I’m hoping I can keep it on that vibe, and not have to sell out and go down a more commercial track. I was very encouraged by the reaction last night, I had been quite apprehensive, but you will be hearing more.” We certainly hope so.